First Meeting
by Lotta Devon
Summary: AU in which Matt and Mello meet for the first time. In a library. Slight awkwardness ensues.


"Mihael, can you take these books over to the history section?"

"Sure."

"Mihael, could you tidy up the children's corner?"

"Yeah."

"Mihael, help this customer send a fax."

"Okay."

"Mihael, when you've done that, sort through the returns."

"Uh huh."

Sometimes I wondered what in God's name had possessed me to get a part-time job at the local library. Other than needing the money, that is. It was tedious, stuffy (the air-con was broken) and I'm pretty sure the head librarian had a vendetta against me.

An elderly woman from my church who had been employed there had coordinated with my parents and managed to get me an interview. The only reason I had accepted the job was because I really liked books - science fiction, crime, historical, fantasy, psychological thriller, you name it. Much to my misfortune, there was absolutely no reading on the job.

I couldn't stand it, but the pay was good, and it was hard to find employment anyway. So I stayed.

"Hey, Mihael, I need to phone someone about overdue books, could you-"

"Put these out, yeah, got it."

I took the pile of books from my co-worker, Lin. Some of the staff were the only upside to the job, Lin included. She was a quiet girl who had been two years above me at school.

Shifting the stack in my arms, I started making my way around the shelves.

* * *

"Once upon a time," a voice announced, dramatically emphasising every word, "There was a terrifying dragon..."

"I don't need you to read to me, I'm not a baby!"

I walked round the corner to where the children's library was. It was a brightly coloured place with lots of crayons and (fake) potted plants and bean bags dotted around. A guy my own age was sitting there, his hair dyed a deep reddish-brown. A girl who must have been his sister was sitting next to him, pouting indignantly.

"You sure, Eva?" the boy was saying, "Pretty sure you're just a baby still."

"I'm seven!" Eva exclaimed, "Just 'cause you're so old."

"I'm hurt," he sniffed and wiped at his eyes as if he was crying.

She smacked his arm, giggling, and hurried off to browse the shelves.

"Excuse me, can I just..?" I muttered, gesturing to the shelf just behind the guy.

"Oh, sorry," he said, jumping up out of my way.

I slotted a couple of kids' fairy tale books onto the display, then turned to go. And noticed the red head was staring at me.

"Um, can I help you?"

He looked startled for a few seconds and then his face lit up in a smile - the kind of goofy grin you see on a five year old kid who's just been given an ice cream.

I scanned through my memories quickly, trying to figure out if I'd met this person before. Results: nothing.

"Golding, huh?"

My brain blanked. What the hell was he talking about?

"Uh..."

He gestured to the pile of books I was carrying. Right on top was 'Lord of the Flies' by William Golding.

"I studied it for my GCSEs," he said, "Quite enjoyed it actually. Who's your favourite character?"

"I, er, haven't actually read it," I replied, "I'm just putting books away."

He looked confused momentarily, then: "Oh, you work here, got it."

He smiled again, scratching the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed.

"Well, it's a pretty good book, so you should read it."

I stood there, unsure of whether I should stay and engage in awkward conversation or make my excuses and leave. I noticed the boy had a light dusting of freckles across his nose and cheeks.

"What's it about?" I asked, "I've heard of it, obviously."

"Oh, a bunch of schoolboys are stranded on an island and they try to survive, and things get kinda mental. It was written around World War Two, I think, and the author basically comments on how fucked up humanity is."

He then clapped his hand to his mouth and snapped his head round to look at his sister. She seemed fairly preoccupied looking through books, and hadn't heard him.

"Whoops!" he muttered, and then snickered.

His laugh was one of those almost-infectious, strange sounding laughs, it was like a mixture between and giggle and a cackle, and I found myself smiling in amusement.

"Well, humanity is pretty messed up, yeah," I agreed.

"It's one of those things that you read or watch," he said, "And it's good entertainment and all, but it makes you think about the reality of the world and life and how awful stuff is, and it's like a bitter aftertaste, y'know?"

I nodded. "I get you. It was the same for me when I read Animal Farm."

He looked confused. "That sounds like a cheerful kids book about a bunch of pigs and cows..."

"It is about a load of farm animals but it's also an allegory of Russian politics and communism," I lowered my voice a little, "It's got some creepy shit in it."

"Nothing shakes up the mind like a healthy dose of creepy. I was playing a fairly creepy game last night. All long, shadowy corridors and tense music. I stayed up til, like, three a.m. which was a bad move! Had to be up at ten, so I've had basically no sleep."

He ran his fingers through his hair, groaning wearily.

"Lucky for some," I rolled my eyes, "I had to get up at seven in order to get here on time."

"Harsh, man," he said sympathetically, "But it's a job, right? Wish I had one."

"Need the money?" I asked.

"Who doesn't? I need a new DS _and_ a new set of computer speakers, which my mum is refusing to pay for this time."

"Bit of a gamer then?"

"More than a bit," he grinned, "Yourself?"

I shrugged, "I dabble occasionally."

"I will accept that as decent enough," he said seriously.

"I'm more of a TV and movie person," I explained.

Just as he opened his mouth to respond, a quiet voice sounded from behind me.

"Mihael."

Oh shit. Forcing a congenial smile onto my face, I turned around. The head librarian was standing there, watching me with dark piercing eyes. She was a small, dark woman, and although being very soft spoken she came across as stern and irritable. Especially towards me.

I wasn't quite sure what I had done to upset her, but whenever she spoke to me she sounded extra annoyed and had a disappointed tone - like anything I did just wasn't quite good enough.

"When you've finished," she said slowly (aka: stop chatting and get to work), "There's some photocopying to be done in the office."

"Okay, I'll just put these out," I said, nodding.

She smiled and narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the same time, then left. I rolled my eyes, relaxing my shoulders.

"I'll stop keeping you then," the redhead said.

"It's fine," I replied quickly.

"Uh, you got a break any time soon?" he asked.

"Half eleven," I responded automatically, and then stared at him. He grinned goofily again. Was he asking... No. No way.

He saluted at me with two fingers, then wandered off to supervise his sister. I hurried off to put out the rest of the books, desperately hoping that my face hadn't gone as red as I feared it had.

* * *

But sure enough, when I walked outside fifteen minutes later, the kid was lounging against the wall and squinting in the sun. I was surprised and oddly elated. But I quickly quashed the feeling. I was not going to look too deep into this, not like I always did.

He looked up. "Yo."

I nodded at him, walking closer. Who the hell says 'yo'?

"So Mihael, huh?"

"Well yeah," I shrugged, "But most people call me Mello."

"Mello," he repeated, and his face lit up with that huge smile again.

I nodded, my mind going blank for things to say.

"I'm known by a nickname too," he said, "Real name's Mail, but you can call me Matt."

"Hi, Matt."

God, this was almost excruciatingly awkward. I felt the pressure to say something interesting, but I could only look at him - Matt. I saw now that he had green eyes, and the roots of his hair were brown.

"So you like movies then?"

"Oh yeah, I watch quite a lot," I said with a smile, "As well as read."

"Last film you saw?"

"Con Air."

"Pretty good," he nodded slowly, "What's your favourite film?"

"That's an impossible question!" I said, shaking my head, and he laughed.

"Name me some then."

"Oh god...," I racked my brains for films I loved that couldn't be deemed embarrassing, "War of the Worlds. Lord of the Rings. Uh, Inception is pretty great."

"You've got good taste," Matt nodded at me, "Love Inception. Star Wars?"

"Obviously," I smiled.

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, sounding triumphant, "You've definitely got good taste... Hey, do you mind if I smoke?"

He pulled a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket, looking a little apprehensive; like he thought I'd berate him for it.

"It's fine," I said. My older brothers smoked and I had a few myself occasionally, so I was used to it.

He lit up and leant back against the wall, staring up at the sky. I shoved my hands deep into the pockets of my hoodie, watching him. I could just see a smattering of faint freckles across his collar bone before they disappeared beneath his t-shirt.

"So," he murmured, cigarette clamped between his lips.

"Hmm," I exhaled slightly.

"Wanna maybe go see a film together sometime?"

I stared at him. My cheeks began to heat up and all I could do was part my lips slightly, no sound coming out.

"G-Go see a film?" I finally managed to repeat. Stupid, stupid.

"Yeah. Go out to the cinema together. If you'd like."

"Like a date?" I asked. Oh god, my face was burning now, I could feel it.

For the first time since he had asked his confidence seemed to wane, and he looked to the side, laughing nervously. "Nah man, it's cool, you don't have to-"

"Yeah sure," I blurted out.

He looked up, eyes going wide.

"I'd like that," I added. That warm, elated feeling was rising in my stomach and chest once more. This time I let it go unchecked.

"Great," he said, "I mean, er, that's cool, y'know."

He took his cigarette from his mouth, blew out a small plume of smoke, and then grinned at me. I grinned back.

"Wait a second," he said, fumbling in the pocket of his jeans and then pulling out his phone, "Put your number in here, if you want. Then we can, like, organise it."

I took the phone from him. His fingers brushed against mine; they were warm and the tips were slightly hard and callused. I could feel my pulse beating rapidly.

When I returned the phone after entering my mobile number, his fingers lingered against mine again.

We just looked at each other. I could see his eyes searching my face, a small smile curving the corners of his lips. There was a tiny dimple on his right cheek. One earlobe held a black earring, the other a green one. His freckles were really cute.

"Maaaaatt!" A voice sounded behind us, ending in a whine.

We turned to see his sister standing there, holding a backpack heavy with books. She hurried to her brother's side and smacked his arm.

"Oh, hey Eva," he smiled, "Got all you want then?"

"I'm gonna tell mum you left me inside by myself," she said smugly. Matt just stuck his tongue out at her.

She then turned her attention to me, eyeing me up and down with a frown. She looked quite a bit like Matt, but her hair was a mousey brown colour.

"Are you Matt's boyfriend?" she demanded.

I could only gawk at her.

"Shut up, Eva!" Matt said, cuffing the back of her head. He had gone considerably pink now too.

She looked between us, giggling, and then proceeded to show all the books she'd borrowed to her brother. I shoved my hands even deeper into my pockets and tilting my head down so my hair fell forward and hid most of my face.

"I guess that means we're going home now, huh?" Matt said, quietly.

"I want to go to the park first," Eva replied.

I raised my eyes to find him looking at me as he stubbed his cigarette out on the wall.

"I'll be seeing you, then?" I asked.

"Definitely!" That dorky, adorable smile graced his face once more.

I smiled back as Eva grabbed his hand and started pulling him in the direction of the road, glancing at me with a curious expression.

"Well, bye then," he called out, raising his free hand in a slight wave.

"Bye."

They disappeared round the corner. I inhaled then exhaled slowly and deeply, shaking my head. Had that even been real? Or was my brain deceiving me and I was now hallucinating attractive, friendly boys who were interested in me?

A passing elderly man gave me a strange look, probably due to how I was loitering around with a huge grin plastered across my face.

I stayed outside for a few more minutes, slowly eating the chocolate bar I'd brought as a snack. As I turned to go back in, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw I had a text from an unknown number.

_Was real nice talking to you, look forward to doing it again sometime. Also the new Thor film comes out soon :P_

I suppose getting a part-time job at the local library hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

That evening before I left I checked out 'Lord of the Flies'.


End file.
